Smart phones have slowly been replacing expensive cameras for the majority of casual photographers. Packing a separate device to take pictures is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Professional photographers will continue to use expensive cameras with DSLR lenses, however, for the vast majority of people, a simple smart phone will do. However, even for the casual smart phone user, there are applications to improve both the experience and quality of your shots.
Sure, you can purchase an expensive camera, and fancy DSLR lenses. Heck, you can even purchase a DSLR lens that will attach to your iPhone (for real, there are kits that allow you to attach massive lenses directly to your phone!). However, for casual picture takers, neither of these solutions are optimal. In fact, there is a cheaper and more portable method of taking near professional quality photographs right from your iPhone.
The Almost DSLR app from the iTunes store allows you to manipulate pictures taken from your iPhone. Sure, you don’t have full control like you would with your Nikon, but for a device you carry around with you all the time, this application is actually pretty powerful.
It allows you to adjust important aspects of your camera such as exposure time, white balance, change border text and background, set the timer, focus, and more. It presents you with an easy to use and configure HUD that has dozens of different settings.
If you don’t know that much about photography, this application is not magic. It does take some knowledge and experience with using an actual DSLR lens. This app will allow you more manual configuration over the camera, it will not automatically configure anything for you. However, amateur photographers will be able to take increasingly better quality photos, without carrying around all that expensive gear. The app can be downloaded directly from the iTunes market and only costs $1.99. Not bad compared to the cost of cameras these days!